Alicante unveils the biggest Nativity scene in the world
The giant Costa Blanca sculpture has featured in the Guinness Book of Records for four years running
The spectacular festive decorations and Christmas lights in Alicante draw crowds from all over the country but without doubt, the piece de resistance is the enormous Nativity scene which was unveiled on Tuesday December 5 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.Towering at 17 metres high, the breathtaking sculpture was officially recognised as the largest in the world by the Guinness Book of Records back in 2019, and it hasn’t been knocked off its perch since.
The impressive display originally featured Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus but the Three Wise Men – Melchior, Gaspar and Baltasar – were added last year.
Needless to say, constructing the Nativity is a mammoth task and it’s taken workers six full days to complete. The hefty Wise Men measure between 11 and 16 metres tall, Joseph stretches to 17 metres while the kneeling Virgin Mary is a little shorter, at 10 metres. The Baby Jesus, for obvious reasons, is the smallest of the lot, but he still comes in at a larger than life 3.5 metres tall.
Alicante artist José Manuel García, known as "Pachi", is responsible for the masterpiece, which he constructed on a budget of 230,000 euros plus an additional 15,000 to store the pieces during the year.
The Holy Family scene snatched the world record from Morocco, which had held the top spot for 20 years.
Image: Ayuntamiento de Alicante
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